Alright, three things:

1.) Sorry this took so long to update, but the next few chapters should be coming pretty quick.

2.) This part is from Berwald's perspective again, sorry if that's confusing.

3.) There is an implied sexy time scene! If you don't want to read implied sex, just skip this chapter, the story will still make sense.

That night, he decided the best thing for them to do was to drink.

He hadn't honestly intended for either of them to drink the way they did, but, they had both had had quite a week. Or, month. Maybe even longer.

Before he knew it, the bottle of vodka he had grabbed was dangerously low. His head spun when he tried to remember how long it had taken them to drink so much or how full it had been to begin with. They both sat on the couch; half facing each other, half facing the fire, their faces painted red from the intense warmth.

He had taken another precarious drink, and was passing it to Ludwig when their fingers brushed. It was a simple touch, but Berwald felt his skin tingling even when he put his hand back in his lap. Did he know that he did that to him?

Ludwig finished off the bottle, swallowed dryly, and then stared at the empty container and looked so surprised that Berwald laughed. His body shook with the force of his amusement, and after a minute he fell back against the couch and took a deep breath. It was good to be drunk, even if everything was fuzzy along the lines, even with his glasses. When he got drunk alone he felt lonely though, and if he drank with the others Mathias was always too loud and annoying, and he could never understand what Lukas said, for which he'd get swatted at when he didn't respond. Tino-he didn't even wince as he thought of him-couldn't hold his liquor at all. He would be passed out face down on the couch after the first hour. No fun in that, now that he thought about it.

He looked up in time to watch Ludwig set the bottle awkwardly on the floor, where the promptly fell over, and then he tilted into the couch with his shoulder, laughing a little. The bright laughter sounded nice and his body trembled gently, causing his hair to fall over his eyes. He sighed and then looked up at Berwald through his hair, still smiling. Berwald thought he was going to have a heart attack just then.

That image, which he saw with perfect clarity even through his drunken haze, was worthy of the paintings and poems.

His smile, while normally perfectly symmetrical, curved crookedly over his upper teeth, each of them gleaming white. It accented his cheeks, which were lightly brushed with a soft, rosy pink that made his heart stutter. His straight nose was contrasted by his sharp jaw in a way that made it impossible for his eyes not to follow, and god, the way he was looking at him with those piercing, pale blue eyes which were glazed over and glistening with the utmost contentment, but still shining through the strands of hair that had fallen free…Berwald was surprised he hadn't passed out from forgetting to breathe.

Ludwig's cheeks grew redder, as did his ears a bit, and tilted his head away. Berwald then noticed how intensely he was staring and realized he had made him blush. It was almost too endearing to withstand.

"If you keep looking at me like that," Ludwig warned, his head still down but his eyes flicking back up, shining from the shadows cast by the fire. "I'm going to have to come over there,"

It was Berwald's turn to feel like hiding in the couch, aware of how fast his cheeks grew hot. However, he had no intention of looking away, so after a moment of Ludwig trying to find some semblance of balance, the blond German moved away from the couch. He pushed himself forward and began to crawl towards him. Berwald didn't dare breathe. The happy, careless smile that had graced Ludwig's face before was gone, torn to shreds by a look that he could only describe as predatory.

As his hands touched his knees, all of the muscles in his body jerked and tensed as if they had been electrocuted. Ludwig didn't seem to notice, or care, and continued moved forward until his hands moved up to the top of the back of the couch and the armrest, effectively pinning Berwald in the corner beneath him. Slowly, ever so slowly, Ludwig lowered himself until his lips were placed next to his ear.

He muttered something in German that Berwald couldn't understand, but his voice rumbled in an unbearably deep manner, like thunder, and that, along with the way he grazed his sensitive ear with his bottom lip nearly made him tackle him on to the floor. Somehow though, he restrained himself, but couldn't stop his hands from snapping up and grabbing onto that taunt body above him. Ludwig smirked, fucking smirked, before roughly pressing their lips together. The kiss was nothing less than passionate. Their teeth and tongues scraped and smeared, their breathing coming faster and harder until Ludwig pulled back suddenly. Berwald almost bit him to keep him from parting.

"I think it's time we went to bed," he murmured before obscenely licking his lips.

"Bed," Berwald repeated dazedly, swallowing as he stared at his moist mouth.

"Mhmm," the German nodded, letting their chests touch before pulling back completely and swinging his legs off the couch.

He helped pull Berwald up, and they leaned on each other a little, half for balance, half because they just couldn't let go. They stumbled around the couch, away from the warm light of the fire, and then down the hallway towards the bedroom. The room was dark and maybe cold, but Berwald wouldn't have noticed even if the roof had been missing. Still, somehow he managed to shut the door behind them, deciding the rest was in fate's hands.

An undeterminable amount of time later, Ludwig let out a soft, content sigh and Berwald snuggled a bit closer to his back as they lied beneath the blankets.

"Ber?"

"Ya?"

"…I love you,"

The words made his heart and throat constrict with emotion, but he swallowed after a second and kissed the back of his head.

"Love ya, too."

"And," he said, rolling just a bit to look over his shoulder at him. "You better not forget this in the morning,"

Berwald chuckled quietly and kissed his shoulder near the base of his neck fondly as he looked at him. "I won't."

"Good, or else I'll have to remind you." the German laughed after winking at him sexily, a final hint of the lingering drunkenness, and then he rolled over and let out a deep, tired breath.

Berwald pulled them slightly closer so their bodies touched all the way to their legs, unable to remember a time that he had ever felt so content. As his heart slowed fully, and the warmness on his skin changed from the burning heat of exertion to a simple, even warmth that kept him hyper-sensitive to touch. He slowly began to run the tips of his fingers up and down Ludwig's arm once he freed his hand, occasionally smiling when he felt his skin ripple at his caress. He traced the chiseled muscles lazily for a while before he scooted even closer and put his nose in his soft, well-groomed hair. He smelled so intensely like him that Berwald had to force himself not to fall asleep like that.

As he pulled back a tiny bit, he realized that he recognized the tightness that had been growing in his chest. He knew it was love. Berwald could be sure because now that he was lying with him, their warm bodies pressed together beneath the blanket, he felt content. He knew he was in the right place. Before, even when he was relaxed, he felt himself wanting to move. Wanting to shift and adjust discretely, all in order to get closer to Ludwig. Because this was what he wanted, with every fiber of his being. And now that he had it, his only regret was that he wasn't more awake to enjoy it.

He wished he could better see Ludwig's calm expression and his beautiful, smooth skin, which was probably still slightly flushed. He wanted to see the exact way his eyebrows could be so light in color, but be so sharp and defining. More than that though, he wanted to simply study the way he breathed. With so much of their bodies pressed against each other, he was able to feel each breath he took, how long he held it, and how it was let out without a hitch of any kind, but he wanted more. He wanted to witness every breath he took, to count the heartbeats between, and to watch his nose move ever so slightly when he drew a sudden, deeper breath. He was sure he would find a pattern to it if he watched long enough; that was simply the type of man Ludwig was.

Every eleventh breath, maybe?

With a deep sigh of his own, he felt sleep beginning to seize him, and slowly he let himself sink into it. However, sleep took him slowly in a push-pull fashion, like waves, and as he faded away from the waking world, he continued to count his lover's breaths even as absent thoughts continued to flow through his mind.

…Nine, ten, ele-ven, twelve…

To hell with everything else, he thought to himself. He had Ludwig.

However, he mused just before he slipped away, if this was now an option, he might never chop firewood again.